[Acceptability and quality of abdominal ultrasound studies requested by medical professionals]. / Adecuación y calidad de las ecografías abdominales solicitadas por los profesionales de medicina.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the acceptability/quality of abdominal ultrasound studies requested by primary care physicians in Barcelona; to develop ultrasound guidelines and assess their impact on acceptability. DESIGN: 2-phase study, one retrospective, descriptive phase evaluating the acceptability/quality of requests (pre-intervention phase) and another to assess the impact of guidelines on acceptability/quality (post-intervention phase). SUBJECTS: Requests for ultrasound studies from January-June 2010 from 10 primary care centers and the same number of requests from the same centers after the intervention. VARIABLES: Pre-intervention phase: reason for consultation and request; presence of diagnostic orientation; results of ultrasound; acceptability/quality of the request. INTERVENTION: design guidelines using the nominal group technique, dissemination of guidelines in the same centers. Post-intervention phase: three months after dissemination analyze the same number of requests assessing the same variables included in the pre-intervention phase. RESULTS: Pre-intervention phase: 1,063 requests, 52.4% women, mean age 52±16years (range 11-94). Post-intervention phase: 1,060 requests, 57.6% women, mean age 54±17years (range 6-91). Main reasons for requests: abdominal pain/discomfort 38.3% (pre-intervention) and 43.1% (post-intervention). Diagnostic orientation in 14.5% (pre-intervention) and 40.8% (post-intervention). Normal ultrasound results in 46.0% (pre-intervention) and 42.3% (post-intervention). Good quality of requests in 42.7% (pre-intervention) and 46.5% (post-intervention). Acceptability of ultrasound: 70.5% (pre-intervention) and 94.1% (post-intervention). The better the quality of the request, the better the acceptability of the studies and the greater the number of pathological conditions identified. CONCLUSIONS: Guidelines for ultrasound improve the quality of requests, diagnostic orientation and acceptability of the studies.